Soon he was onboard the Argossy waiting for the all clear. The crewman had to manually override the energy field at the main junction box near the generators. Kess was standing nearby making sure he didn’t try to run. Koba came on to the bridge holding a rifle. “Captain!” he said. “Good to see you.”
“You too. We ain’t out of the woods yet. Hurley okay?”
“He’s fine. Are they gonna help us out?”
By then, Greeley and Barth had come aboard. “Naw, they ain’t, the worm lovin’ fools,” said Greeley. Koba shoulders dropped and turned back to his console.
“We ain’t out of the woods yet,” said Jolo. “Barth, you and Hurley get her ready to go. Koba, make the calculations. Plot a straight path to Duval. We’ll need to jump out as quick as we can. They’ll spot us pretty soon, I imagine.”
A few minutes later Kess met Jolo at the rear hatch. “Go now. You got a short window.”
“Thank you,” said Jolo. He shook the marine’s hand. “You can come with us.”
Kess paused for a moment and stared down at his boots. “Naw. I got some more work here to do I imagine. Y’all watch out for the gunboats. They’ll know you’re no merchant vessel.”
“Will do. Thanks again.”
Soon the Argossy eased through the bay door into space. The sector was still littered with Fed ships, all in formation, awaiting coordinates for some training exercise, a lie Filcher had cooked up to get his fleet as far away as possible.
The Argossy, Jolo thought, was going to head right into the fire.
“Koba,” said Jolo, “take us away from the gunboats, down behind the container ships. As soon as we have enough distance, jump us the hell out.”
“Roger that, Captain,” said Koba. Jolo had to force Koba to go slow and easy. Merchant ships don’t run. So they took their time, Jolo eyeing the gunboats patrolling the area. They didn’t move at first, but half way to the jump point, the first of several gunboats altered course and headed straight for the Argossy.
“We’re gonna have company,” said Jolo. “It took them a minute to figure out we didn’t authorization. Koba, increase speed.”
Koba picked up speed and headed for a point beyond the large cargo ships just far enough away to jump out. They hit their mark and waited. It usually took around ten seconds for the engines to wind up even if they’d already made the calculations. Jolo watched the little dots heading his way on the screen. He got on the comm to Trant. “We going to fight the BG, Trant. You yellow worm lovers stay here where its nice and safe.”
“You’re going nowhere, Synth,” Trant said.
“How we doing, Koba?” said Jolo, off comm.
“Few more seconds, but provoking the gunboats probably ain’t the best thing right about now.”
Trant’s gunboat came on screen just as the Argossy started to jump. Jolo felt the Argossy lurch from a cannon shot but then they started the jump and left the Fed fleet behind.
Three jumps later and they were above Duval. Jolo brought the sector scan up on the main display. “Where’s the patrol?” Usually there were a sprinkling of pirate boats in orbit, but they were gone.
There was a long pause as Koba tapped on his screen. “Can’t find ‘em, Captain. But that ain’t the worst of it.”
“Two red dots.” Jolo said, pointing at the big screen.
“BG,” said Koba.
Jolo took a deep breath. “They haven’t moved at us. Take us down.”
“Well, that’s good, huh?” said Koba.
“No. That ain’t,” said Jolo. Then he got on the comm shipwide. “We may have company on the deck, boys. Shields up and guns hot. Greeley, might want to suit up.”
Soon the Argossy was hurtling down into Duval’s atmosphere, the old ship bucking and rocking. Jolo eyed the screen waiting to get a glimpse of the surface, anxious to know what was waiting for them. Blue sky and white clouds flashed for a few moments, then the familiar orange landscape unfolded before them as the old ship continued down.
“We over Marco’s?” said Jolo.
“Right on top,” said Koba.
Surface details began to emerge as they always did, but this time was different. This time Jolo was afraid for his people, for Marco and the rest. And especially for Katy. Gray square patches that marked Jaxxon and the other settlements came into view, and then the long black line that snaked through the orange hardpack that outlined the ravine.
Usually there were boats moving in and out of Marco’s, tower busters and supplies being packed up for the evacuation. But as the black line grew wider and became a ravine that led to Marco’s hidden entrance, the only thing Jolo saw was smoke. It billowed up black and foul into the sky. At first Jolo thought it was Marco’s compound burning but then he realized it was the big transport. The fuel cells must have caught fire. The ship would burn until there was nothing left but a pool of gray metal and charred debris. There were smaller clumps of color on the surface, but Jolo couldn’t make them out. Two near the shell of the transport and a bright orange one by the hidden recharge cables where the tower busters used to come for supplies. The Argossy got closer and the bits of color took shape: legs and arms splayed out in unnatural poses. Jolo remembered the kid in the orange jacket who helped recharge the boats coming in. He didn’t even shave yet. Jolo swallowed hard. Where’s Katy?
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Koba’s board started flashing
